VietNamNet Bridge – In the past few days, Thien Hung Pagoda in the central province of Binh Dinh welcomed hundreds of local and foreign martial arts practitioners, who came for the 6th International Festival of Vietnamese Traditional Martial Arts.

The festival kicked off on August 2 in Quy Nhon city, Binh Dinh province, with the participation of 52 domestic and international martial arts teams, including 16 from France, the US, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Russia, Portugal and Canada.

Initiated in 2006, the festival has become a forum gathering and connecting those who love Vietnamese traditional martial arts as well as a bridge connecting international friends with Vietnam.

The event offers an opportunity for domestic and international martial arts clubs to meet, exchange and share their experiences in promoting Vietnamese traditional martial arts.

The festival contributes to introducing co-operative and economic potential of the country, particularly Binh Dinh province as well as attracting more investment and tourists to the locality.

At the opening ceremony, delegates and visitors enjoyed a unique arts and martial arts program with the participation of hundreds of athletes, martial arts instructors, actors and actresses from around the country. The performances featured the formation and development of Vietnamese traditional martial arts as well as promoted the beauty of the land and people of Binh Dinh.

The 2016 international festival ran until August 4.

Below are the performances by foreign martial art practitioners:

International martial art practitioners meet with Vietnamese colleagues at Thien Hung Pagoda in An Nhon Town. Master Stephane Lesoil, 45, the head of the team from France, performs Vietnamese martial art at Le Xuan Canh martial art club in An Nhon Town. Practicing Judo and Karate 17 years ago, Lesoil met Vietnamese martial art masters in France by chance he and since then he has pursued Vietnamese traditional martial arts. He then went to Vietnam to learn the Vietnamese martial art from master Ha Thi Yen Oanh in HCM City. The performance by French martial art practitioners. Vietnamese martial art practitioners from Algeria perform with swords at Thien Hung Pagoda. “I began practicing Vietnamese traditional martial art at the age of five with my parents. My family came to Vietnam this time for the traditional martial art festival. It is really great that this is a chance for me to learn new moves and techniques of from other sects," said Dumama Bernoussi from Morocco. Martial art practitioners from Algeria perform the technique of walking on toes… … and moving with the head. Foreign martial art practitioners with nice acrobatic performances. A performance by female practitioners of Le Xuan Canh martial art club and foreign colleagues. Martial art practitioners from Khanh Hoa Province.

Photo: Zing

Lan Huong